1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a vehicle occupant safety apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a clamp assembly for clamping seat belt webbing to restrain movement of a vehicle occupant.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to use seat belt webbing to restrain movement of a vehicle occupant in the event of a collision or the like. A typical seat belt system may include a retractor with an emergency locking mechanism to block rotation of the retractor spool in a belt withdrawal direction upon sensing vehicle deceleration above a predetermined deceleration. The emergency locking mechanism prevents belt webbing from being withdrawn from the retractor, thus restraining movement of a vehicle occupant using the seat belt.
It is also known to use a webbing clamp assembly to clamp seat belt webbing to restrain movement of a vehicle occupant using a seat belt. Many different types of webbing clamp assemblies are known. Typically, they include an inertia sensing mechanism which moves two clamp members together to block belt withdrawal.